The Sunday Junkie: Sept. 15 edition

The glut of MMA events over the weekend didn’t keep MMAjunkie.com readers from reaching out.

The Sunday Junkie, MMAjunkie.com’s weekly reader-feedback feature, got submissions from topics in a wide range, including this weekend’s UFC 165.

This week’s winner, Albert Cavallaro, of Long Island, N.Y., would be happier if all the drug testing talk in the buildup to November’s Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks title fight would go away.

For his winning entry, Robbins wins a free one-year subscription to “Fighters Only” magazine, the world’s leading MMA and lifestyle magazine.

Want to submit to next week’s edition of The Sunday Junkie? Scroll to the bottom of the page for instructions.

Also, as a reminder, please be sure to include your hometown and stick within the 150-word limit (and include your submission in the body of an email, not in an attachment). Many quality submissions this week didn’t meet those minimum guidelines and couldn’t be considered for publication.

(Pictured: Georges St-Pierre)

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VADA, WADA OR NADA!

It’s almost time for the 20th anniversary of the UFC. The event it will host to commemorate this amazing achievement will be UFC 167. The main event is between longtime welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre and Johnny Hendricks. In recent news, the two fighters have been trying to determine the course of action for extra drug testing. I think it’s insane how this story keeps having so many turns and twists between two amazing fighters who NEVER have tested remotely positive for any drug in their entire MMA careers. I really hate to see this dark cloud hover over this event when it is so meaningless because of their clean pasts. I want to look forward to an amazing fight and not the back story between these two. I really hope the drug testing can just be put aside and let them both train for the biggest fight of their careers!

Miesha Tate said that anyone can be nice for 15 minutes, but the show displays Ronda is emotionally unstable. I would have to disagree. Anyone who has put on hand wraps understands the passion for fighting and competition, and Rousey puts that on display. Her drive and dedication to her fighters is a look into how she pushes herself. Will power like that is what makes and maintains champions, and she is looking to instill that into her team. Did she mistake Tate’s celebration for a mocking of Shayna’s loss? Sure. Would she be a nightmare in a relationship? Most likely. Would I want to be on her team or a training partner? Definitely. This is not about camera time to her, and I respect that.

Aaron G.
Meridian, Idaho

APPRECIATE WHAT THE UFC HAS TO OFFER

After watching WSOF 5 last night, I realized one thing: The UFC does it “right.” While I love fighting of all kinds, I had a hard time watching the NBC Sports Network broadcast. The broadcasters were boring. I like Bas Rutten, but the other guy (who?) gave me reason to lose interest. The ring announcer (who?) was cheesy. And a fight was canceled due to a mystery pill (what?). Give me Mike, Joe and Bruce. The UFC is a class act. They do it right.

Phil White
Grants Pass, Ore.

BJORN REBNEY IS A NOOB

Every time the man opens his mouth, piles of cow dung roll off his lips with no regard for intellectual realization of his stance and the place of his organization in the world of MMA. It’s truly pathetic how he speaks of his fighters as if the competition he has to offer will be a true sign whether his standout fighters would ever stack up to the competition in the UFC. (Hector Lombard, I’m looking at you). Now with the emergence of Chandler, Askren and Curran crushing cans a la Lombard, Rebney’s mouth is writing checks his ass can’t cash. Bellator is simply the UFC minor league system.

“Mmabie10″
Riverside, Calif.

THE GRACIE LEGACY LIVES ON

The first major name linked to the world of the ground game in MMA we all know rhymes with Stacey. The Gracie family is not only a big family, but a very dangerous one. After watching WSOF 5, I think we can all agree that the Gracie legacy will never die. Grandpas will be telling their grandkids about Royce and Renzo, then their kids will be talking about guys like Neiman. Not all the Gracies on the card were able to capture a victory last night, but all it takes is one. Neiman Gracie‘s armbar win was nasty Gracie BJJ at its best. Not to mention it was against a guy who wasn’t shy to tangle on the ground. Darren Costa should have taken another approach. I respect wanting to beat a Gracie at his own game. This just wasn’t a smart move as Neiman proved that the Gracie name and reputation is a powerful odor that more often than not usually smells like sweet victory.

Ben McPhee
Prescott Valley, Ariz.

ROUSEY LEAVES A BAD “TATE” IN YOUR MOUTH

Recently, due to her coaching position on “TUF 18,” I’ve been hearing Ronda Rousey get a bad rep. As I watch the show, I get a different feeling, as she may be emotionally charged and does not censor herself for anybody, but she is also a genuine, devoted, competitive and talented coach. She showed this with her heartbreak in her fighter’s losing effort, and her sincerity in explaining how hard her tasks as a coach are. Tate comes off fake – the level of sincerity is just not there and reminds me of former coach “Rampage” Jackson. She seems to want to win the competition more for her than the sake of her fighters. As far as the coaches go, I would say there is an awesome teacher for one team and someone playing the role for the other.

Robert Chandler
Mosca, Col.

TOO MUCH HYPE BEING GIVEN TO GUSTAFSSON’S CHANCES

Hyping a fight is expected, but not when the hype is just ridiculous. I thought we’d hit bottom with the Sonnen/Jones “fun” fight, but now the UFC would have us believe that Gustafsson has a chance of beating Jones because he’s just as tall and young, while conveniently ignoring the substantially longer reach that Jones has. Really? By this logic, Stefan Struve should have destroyed everyone in the heavyweight division. Gustafsson has zero chance against a fighter of Jones’ caliber. While I expect some hype, I don’t expect the UFC to treat the fans like idiots. We know the only reason he’s fighting Jones is that he’s one of the few fighters left in the division that Jones hasn’t already destroyed. After Gustafsson gets elbowed into a coma, how long before the hype train starts clamoring about Teixeira’s vaunted 20 consecutive wins against such standouts like Kingsbury, Maldonado, a broken down “Rampage” and 15 unknown guys in Brazil?

“Kravmaguffin”
Chicago

UFC OR THE WWE?

I remember a few years ago, Dana White would slam fighters for making fancy entrances to the octagon, telling them the UFC wasn’t the WWE. But now, I’m wondering how fighters are able to fight anyone they want just by talking smack about one another on Twitter or doing rehearsed callouts (looking at you, Sonnen). Isn’t that essentially how every WWE match starts? “Hey! I hate your face and your skills are weak! How about we settle this at WrestleMani … uh, I mean UFC (insert event name/number)?” Even Sonnen’s a leather/spandex outfit away from being part of TNA’s roster. Now, there have been some great fights that came about because of this, like Silva vs. Sonnen, but what’s the point of ranking systems when all one has to do is rile up a fighter on Twitter to fight them? “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the UFC McMahon era!”

Marius Carter
Greensboro, N.C.

BJORN REBNEY’S MISSED OPPORTUNITY

After breaking a rib during training camp and Bellator not rescheduling a fight soon enough, Matt Riddle decides to retire. How could Bellator let this happen? Not only has Matt Riddle proved himself to be a legit contender by not having lost since 2011 (two fights were overturned due to marijuana use) but he also loves to speak his mind. Bellator should have given him a fight at the end of the year like he requested. Then Matt Riddle could go to the public and say how great Bellator is to work for and how well they take care of their fighters. Huge missed opportunity for Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney to get the respect and attention of other elite fighters.

McRae Gall
Calgary

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HOW TO SUBMIT: Do you have an idea for next week’s edition of “The Sunday Junkie?” Send your submission of 150 words or fewer (no attachments please) to sundayjunkie @ mmajunkie.com with your full name or nickname, your hometown (city and state), a valid email address and a phone number (not to be published). Incomplete submissions will not be considered for publication. Only one submission per week is suggested, but we’ll consider multiple entries if they’re submitted separately. All submissions must be received by Sunday at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT).

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?